Long Live The Queen
by etoilecourageuse
Summary: It was their first Christmas without Father, and their last as a family.


She was gone. Had succumbed to whatever fever had so suddenly taken her and left this world to follow Father, peacefully falling asleep within Narcissa's arms. She was gone. Mother was gone, and her tears would not cease to flow.

"You're the queen now," she had whispered to her, and closed her eyes, never to open them again, smiling, a strange, world-enraptured smile as though she knew that soon she would be reunited with her beloved husband. She was gone. Gone… She'd been released from her agony; she'd been forced to endure too much during her short lifetime, had seen too much death, felt too much pain.

_You're the queen now._ Her words echoed within Narcissa's ears, caused her to smile even at the memory. She could still see them, all together in the drawing room on Christmas Eve the year past. It was their first Christmas without Father, and Mother had locked herself into her bedroom for nearly a week as though to assemble her remaining strength to survive the holidays. Her husband had been her rock and he'd gone too soon, left her behind stricken with grief and endless sorrow until the end. Yet that day she had forced herself to smile, for the sake of her daughters who were everything she had left. They had all been together; even Bellatrix who had so soon distanced herself from her family, even Andromeda who had so foolishly betrayed them all scarcely two months later, so peacefully together. Narcissa had wished to capture this moment and treasure it forever, had wished nothing more than that Father could be amongst them, but she knew that from far above he watched, watched over them all and smiled.

She would never forget the tears that had furtively glistened in Mother's eyes all evening, would never forget the barely noticeable tremor in her hands as she watched Bella open her present, carelessly ripping the wrapping apart.

A dagger.

Father's silver dagger that he had constantly carried close to him, that had once belonged to his own father. Father's dagger… Even Bellatrix had seemed overwhelmed for a moment, a moment of complete silence. But she'd quickly swallowed down her emotions, holding the dagger solemnly, gently stroking over the handle, incapable of taking her eyes off the blade that glisteningly reflected the dimmed light of the drawing room. Quietly she'd whispered words of thanks, and smiled. Father's dagger…

She had not come. Bellatrix had not bothered to attend her own mother's funeral, had not bothered to respond to Narcissa's despairing attempts to contact her. She had not come… Narcissa's heart felt as though it were to break into a thousand pieces, for Mother and for Bellatrix, who was still breathing yet long dead inside, who was lost and not to be saved. She had not come… Could she even remember her family? Did she know that she'd once had a mother who had loved her so beyond belief, that she had a sister who worried for her, more than anything else? Or had she long forgotten about… She had not come.

Andromeda had received a locket, centuries old and made from pure gold, jewelled with rubies; simple yet beautiful. It had once belonged to Mother herself, who had always treasured it as her most precious property. Andy had gasped for breath with surprise and nearly begun to sob, pressed the necklace close to her heart, enclosing the clasp about her neck never to take it off, even now, long after her escape. She would have flung her arms around Mother's body with gratitude yet hesitated, knowing that she was reluctant to embraces, rarely capable of showing affection, particularly after Father's death. Yet she seemed touched by her daughter's reaction, lay her hand briefly upon her knee and smiled.

And now? Now Andromeda was standing there, alone in a corner of the cemetery, hidden behind a tree where no one would see her. Her face was hidden beneath a hood, her body shaken by silent sobs, one hand rested against her chest as her trembling fingers grasped about her locket. For a moment Narcissa desired nothing more than to forget about the past and step right next to her into the darkness; for a moment she wanted to forgive her, to pretend that nothing had ever happened, wanted to hold her sister and comfort her, wanted them to grieve their mother together, as sisters, as one. How much she missed her…

But Narcissa seemed paralysed, remained still within her husband's arms and buried her face within his chest, moistening his robes with her tears.

_You're the queen now._

The queen… She was the queen, the last remaining Black… It was as though her mother had known, as though she had always known, sensed the future…

A diadem. Narcissa's hands had trembled as she opened her own present, unveiling a piece of jewellery so precious that for a second it felt as though her heart had ceased to beat. A diadem, a diadem of black diamonds that she would wear to her wedding just like Mother had, and so many generations before her. A diadem… How well she knew it, and how many years had she admired it from afar, never daring to dream that one day… Narcissa, too, had been speechless like her sisters, had merely looked at her mother, had looked deeply into her eyes, and she'd held her gaze, smiling, the first truly sincere smile since Father had fallen. There was no need to speak; they had always had a special relationship, understood each other without words, were so similar to one another. Briefly, Narcissa's fingers had crossed her mother's wrist; a simple gesture of gratitude and yet so much more.

Their first Christmas without Father. It had been their first Christmas without Father, and none of them had sensed that it would be their last together, their last Christmas as a family.

Only Mother… Mother seemed to have known. She seemed to have known that Bellatrix would succumb to darkness, that Andromeda would turn her back to her own family and break away, seemed to have known that… She seemed to have known that she would not live to see the next winter.

A fever. A fever had taken Mother from this world; Narcissa herself had cared for her during her last weeks, had slept in a chair by her bedside, held her hand and spoke to her, comforted her when she awoke from her fitful sleep, gasping for air. A fever… Of course not. No fever, no illness would force Druella Black to her knees, no fever would so cruelly take her life in such a terrible way. It had been a broken heart.

_You're the queen now._

The queen… What was it worth to reign over a family that was destined to fall; if it meant to lose those she loved? Here she stood now, weeping at her mother's grave, heavily supported by her husband as her legs would have long ceased to carry her, here she stood with tears streaming down her face incessantly, did not know whether too proud or too craven to reach out to her lost sister, to comfort her and to receive comfort all at once. Here she stood now, in the arms of her husband and yet more alone than ever before. The queen, worth nothing. Nothing at all.


End file.
